Dehati Ladke, which is now streaming on Amazon miniTV, is about dreams, aspirations, hope, sprinkled with humor. And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the three leads of the show- Kusha Kapila, Aasif Khan, and Shine Pandey, chatted about their respective characters, the challenges they faced while playing their parts, and the world of the heartland.
Edited excerpts from the interview
Kusha, this year you had Selfiee, Sukhee, Thank You For Coming, and now Dehati Ladke. How did you manage to jump from one world to another?
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I’ve been trying to become different characters and also auditioning, I’m trying to make sure I get a variety of interesting characters. You don’t know when something you’ve done will release, but I was very happy when I was told this show would release in December itself.
Aasif, what were your expectations from this show as an actor?
I was very confident that people would like Dehati Ladke once they see it, this is the kind of a show that you would binge watch.
Shine, how did you prepare for your role?
I got a lot of help from my director and I would give him all the credit. He allowed me to do certain things and watch certain things before we started shooting. My director was very honest with what was going on during shooting so that really helped me. He was not happy with what I was doing so that encouraged me to do a lot more, and get into the skin.
Kusha, when you read a script, do you look for any similarities between you and the characters you’re offered?
I only look for opportunities, because it’s not like I’m being offered 50 scripts at a time. I was being offered roles very similar to what I play on my reels and people asked me to stay away from them out of the fear of me getting typecast. But I’m happy with the roles I’ve played because they taught me how to be on a film set because it’s completely different from making reels on social media. The character I have played on the show Chaya is completely different from who I am. It’s more like beggars can’t be choosers.
Aasif, the word Dehati is usually taken as a negative connotation. What is the strength of these people who hail from a small town?
Dehat is a culture of its own. The place we have shot the series in is a much smaller town than where I come from, it’s proper Dehat. The only thing is that metroplexes have far more opportunities and that’s why we see the rural-urban migration.
Kusha, you’re into fashion, comedy, films; how would you like to describe your journey so far?
It has been an unbelievable journey for me. In my last profession, I was a journalist, a junior fashion editor. Even I have conducted a lot of interviews and I enjoy this process. I have been on the order side and now to be here, it feels quite surreal. I was in college, I was confused, I did 7-8 years of corporate jobs, and it’s only now that this career has happened to me, so I respect this career and my hustle as well.
Shine, what’s your take on the boom of OTT that has happened in the last five years?
There’s more relatable content that has come about. Our show is relatable too and many people will be able to see a part of themselves while watching the characters. This is absolutely a game changer that’s happening in current times.